


Seven days of summer

by Steangine



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Holiday, M/M, Romance, Seaside, Summer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-05-27 18:48:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15031001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steangine/pseuds/Steangine
Summary: Aomine invites Kuroko over his aunt's house in the countryside. In a town which seems crystalized in time, they spend seven days together, trying to understand if they could ever get again as close as they were.[summer romance - AoKuro]





	1. The house over the seas

The train was an old locomotive like those Kuroko only saw in the illustrations of his grandmother’s books. The sound of its clattering on the railroad slowly turned into a comforting sound that dragged him into an idle doziness. Kuroko was sinking into the hot leather seat. His eyes were captured by the dazzling beautiful countryside drowned into the sun. Next to him, Aomine was sleeping with her head swinging on the chest. The train bended, Aomine’s slow fall on Kuroko’s shoulder was braked by the leather of the seat stuck on his skin.

Their stop was the last one. Kuroko closed his eyes when he felt them too heavy and opened them when a breath of wind refreshed his sweating skin. Every time a passenger wasn’t there anymore. The woman sitting in front of them disappeared too and Kuroko wondered if they got on a train full of ghosts. His mind was so melting into that scorching climate of the wagon, so the idea didn’t seem that foolish. It just sounded natural that they were silently travelling with silent spirits inside that clattering train which broke the silence of the nature at his passage, leaving behind an emptiness of sounds.

Kuroko closed his eyes again and leant his head on Aomine’s.

In July, Aomine announced he would have spent a week of to her aunt’s house in the countryside. He used to do that a lot when he was a child but stopped in middle school as his aunt started traveling more for job. That year she was in Japan again for summer and asked Aomine if he wanted to go back there and bring his friends if he wanted.

One after another declined the invitation. Everyone but Kuroko. Kuroko was the last one Aomine asked to and he was surprised when he nodded and said, “I would like to.”

They took a bus from Tokyo to a small countryside station and they talked about basketball. Then, when they said everything they wanted and going back with reminiscence was too painful, Aomine told Kuroko about what he used to do to his aunt’s place, from fishing to catching cicadas. It had been a while since the last time Kuroko saw Aomine being so talkative with him; after middle school something broke between them, turned colder and, even after the Winter Cup, that something didn’t go back as before. Everything was different, but in that moment, sitting next to each other and speaking, it was so similar to the past that Kuroko hoped the travel to be as long as possible.

Then they took the train at the small railway station. The train was old and hot. Kuroko missed the air conditioner in the bus, but the weight of Aomine’s head on his shoulder wasn’t that bad. His feeble snorts mixed with the sound of the train running on the railway and Kuroko closed his eyes again.

When he opened them, Aomine had already put down their luggage and looked as if he wasn’t suffering from the excessive warmth consuming their strengths.

“Hey Tetsu, we’re almost there!”

Kuroko didn’t move, he looked around and noticed they were alone in that wagon. The landscape outside was slowing down and the yellow fields gave him a sense of isolation which wasn’t unpleasant at all. As he stood up he felt his skin being ripped away from the seat.

“You still look sleepy.” Aomine ruffled his hair. “Take a sip of water.”

Kuroko obeyed. The water was warm but he felt a bit better.

The train stopped in a jolt. The high-pitched whistle sounded like a sigh of relief. That day too the old train did its job and was ready to rest and gather his strength back before the next route, the following morning. It left slowly and, looking at the steam weakly dispersing in the air, Kuroko had the sensation they were abandoned in that shack of bricks which pretended to be a station. They dragged their luggage to the exit.

“Aomine-kun.” Kuroko started putting his bag down. “How’s your aunt?” He realized he hadn’t asked yet and Aomine talked about everything but her.

“She’s lively, like exploding of energy. And beautiful.”

Kuroko opened his mouth to ask for more, but the noise of a car distracted him. He turned his head and noticed that wasn’t a car, but a pickup. A beautiful white pickup with sunflowers painted on it. The car door opened.

“Daiki!”

A tall woman with bronzed skin waved a hand at them. A long dark braid fell from under her large straw hat and her white dress waved around her slim legs as she run towards them.

“Auntie!”

She squeezed Aomine into a tight hug.

“You’ve grown up!” She exclaimed pointing out how her head barely arrived at his chin. “I guess I can’t lift you anymore, huh?”

Her smile was bright. Aomine flushed.

“I don’t need to be lifted anymore…” He looked embarrassed. “Ah, auntie, this is–“

“Tetsu!”

Kuroko stiffened as his name was called out in that way.

“It must be him.” She smiled. “He’s just like you described him. Short, plain but c–“

Aomine let out a high-pitched shriek, his cheeks were going on fire. “Why don’t we go home now?! I’m starving!!!”

The woman, Kuroko noticed, was shorter than Aomine but taller than him. She tended a hand to him with a soft smile.

“I’m Aomine Madoka, nice to meet you.”

Kuroko took the hand. Her skin was smooth and her grip firm.

“Kuroko Tetsuya. Thank you for allowing me to stay.”

He bowed and wondered what he did wrong, as the smile disappeared from Madoka’s face. She looked puzzled.

“Oh… you sure have some manners. How comes you are friend with that monkey of my nephew?”

“Hey! I’m here!”

Madoka laughed and, before any of the boys could stop her, she grabbed both their bags. Despite having thin arms, she lifted and brought them to the pickup as if they were empty.

“She painted the sunflowers herself.” Aomine explained as he climbed with Kuroko behind the pickup. “She works for many art galleries.”

There was a clear blue sky over their heads and the station, a small shack that stood alone in the middle of nowhere, became more and more a far brown dot on the horizon until it disappeared. Aomine and Kuroko were bouncing on the sacks they used as sits.

“I bought some flour!” Madoka raised her voice to be heard over the sound of the engine. “Since you are here I’ll make all the sweets you want!”

“That’s enough flour to cook for at least ten basketball teams, auntie…”

Kuroko nodded. “Kagami-kun too would have troubles finishing the quantity of food you can make out of this flour.”

“Does he truly eat that much every day?”

“Yup.”

The road was a tiny cut of soil dried by the summer weather and barely different from the yellowish tall grass around. That landscape was very different from what Kuroko expected hearing Aomine’s stories: not forests with branches and leaves creating shadows, but an endless yellow and green sea that tended towards the sky. However, he didn’t dislike it.

“Aomine-kun.”

“Huh?”

“You told her I’m short.”

“Not that you are tall, Tetsu.”

“That was very rude of you.”

“That’s the truth. How do I sugarcoat it?”

All of a sudden , the vegetation started to acquire life again. The yellow blurred into darker shapes of green until it flourished again in wonderful sunflowers, a bright sea which surrounded the emerald hills on the close horizon. The road winded in large curves and reached up to the top covered in trees.

The sack of flour used as sits weren’t that comfortable, and it wasn’t even safe, Kuroko thought, but he was having fun. The warm wind was messing his hair and, when the road entered a corridor of trees, Kuroko raised his head, looking at the rays of sun filtering through the thick web of branches and leaves creating a refreshing cover from the scorching hot weather. The wind still waved back his bangs, uncovering his forehead.

He didn’t notice Aomine was looking at him, at his hairline, while recalling when they refreshed during the breaks from the trainings; Kuroko used to wash his face and pass his fingers inside the hair, pulling them back only for them to cover his forehead again as he let them go. The image was so vivid in front of his eyes that he waited for the hair to fall on his face. When Kuroko lowered the head, his bangs were back in place and Aomine grinned.

“It’s at the end of the woods.” Aomine said. “Auntie’s house.”

Madoka chuckled. “Keep your eyes wide open, Tetsu!”

Kuroko turned around, facing the direction of the road. All he saw were green shadows and some glimmers of sun which managed to penetrate the roof of leaves. Then, the light grew stronger, reaching its peak as the road entered the borders of the town.

The sun flashed on them. Kuroko closed its eyes and he clearly heard Aomine’s voice.

“Tetsu, look!”

His voice was close, but the last time Kuroko heard that bright happiness was far and nostalgic. Kuroko looked at the world in front of him with greedy eyes. He caught the whole image with a single glance, but that wasn’t enough to notice the small details which mingled in a higher level of beauty.

Aomine was right. Everything was green. The houses stood among the trees, the thinner the more the road descended to the shore, where the town dominated over nature and faced the glimmering blue sea.

They were at the top of that view, at the top of the town. Kuroko stared at the landscape in amaze and his eyes, Aomine was sure, were filled of the same amaze he felt after his first official basketball match.

“We’re here!”

Madoka’s cheerful voice awakened them. Aomine didn’t know if he was fast enough to turn towards his aunt’s house and if Kuroko noticed he had been observing him. He gazed at his aunt’s house: everything remained the same, from the small garden surrounded by a low wooden fence to the round flat stones which created the path to the main door. The two-floored house in Japanese style stood isolated from the others, so similar to them, but at the same time so special, as it dominated the town from its place.

Aomine jumped down the truck like a cat; Kuroko sat down on the edge and descended. They barely entered the garden when Madoka turned towards them. Her dress waved into the wind, showing her long legs.

“You two are walking on lava, you know?”

She smiled gently and jumped from one stone to the other. Her figure turned from that of a mature woman, to the one of a young cheerful person. If the boys didn’t know it was her, they would have mistaken her for someone of their age.

Aomine sighed. “Auntie, that was many years ago, I grew up since then and–Tetsu?” When he saw Kuroko walking on the stones, the bag almost fell from his hand. Kuroko tilted his head.

“The grass is lava, Aomine-kun.”

***

The suffocating heat and the sweat-drenched clothes stuck to the skin seemed so far, but it happened early that afternoon. The shower brought Kuroko back to life and he felt an unexpected pleasure in wearing his clean fresh clothes. He was curious about the house but didn’t feel at ease at the idea of going around on his own. He waited in the room he would have shared with Aomine.

There was the noise of the running water -Aomine was still showering- and the noises coming from the kitchen -Madoka didn’t lose time and started baking something for them.

It was a simple squared room. Two futons on the parquet, a small wardrobe and a window wall opening on the town. Over the irregular line of the roofs, the deep blue sea met in a thin line with the clear sky sprinkled with unraveled white clouds.

Kuroko sat in between the futons and looked outside, through the bars of the balcony: that was the view Aomine witnessed many times. He wondered if it changed during those years when Aomine didn’t go there, or if time forgot about that little piece of world.

The futon looked comfortable and, without thinking, Kuroko found himself curled on it, as if he was attracted by an invisible hand. It was fresh at the touch and had a fresh scent. Kuroko took a deep breath but sensed a feeble flavor opposite to the subtle perfume coming from the light blanket, a clear sweet fragrance, maybe a cake or some biscuits. His eyes felt heavy, hurt a bit. He rubbed the head against the cushion; closing his eyes for a couple of minutes didn’t seem such a bad idea and the futon was soft, almost embracing him in a tender hug.

Only a couple of minutes he thought closing the eyes to the radiance of the waves.

When Aomine entered the room, with his hair dripping water, he found Kuroko curled on the futon. He was giving the impression he was enjoying a good sleep after a long time.

“Ah… was he really this tired?”

Aomine knelt on the other futon, his right hand ready to pinch Kuroko’s nose. He was so deep in his sleep, that some part of him wanted to awaken him, while the other part felt guilty at the thought. He settled for a quick ruffle to his hair, but his fingers tangled with the wet locks and Aomine was afraid Kuroko was about to wake up. However, he only wrinkled his nose and eyebrows to relax right after.

“Boring…”

Aomine leant down and looked at the clear ceiling. He was planning to bring Kuroko to the old basketball court, where nobody hardly went, and play with him until dinner. His eyes glanced towards the ball near their bags and he turned on his side, giving Kuroko his back. He clearly heard his slow breath. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. It was regular, relaxed.

In five minutes, Aomine told himself, he would have awakened Tetsu.

Madoka went to their room half an hour later and found them asleep, lying next to each other, back against back. She took a sheet from the wardrobe and covered both.

“Well… I guess they’ll eat my special choco-biscuits later.”

***

Dinner on the roof, that was a first for Kuroko.

Under them, a sea of artificial lights glimmered into the darkness. Over them, the remnant light of the setting sun shaded from a tender pink to darker shades of blue. The heat of the day was slowly giving place to a fresh night which called for something more than a t-shirt. The whole place smelled of fresh grass. The thick scent mingled together with the delicious flavor of the food and the delicate perfume of the citronella candles burning around them. They were sitting into a circle of flickering flames which protected them from insects. A mystical barrier, Madoka said while lighting the candles. She probably was joking, but there was something magical in the lights dancing on them while they enjoyed the silence of the nature.

“You two were so cute, sleeping together! And you said you were starving, Daiki.” Madoka laughed and Kuroko recognized in her something of the old Aomine. “I took a photograph, by the way.”

“Auntie!”

“Do you want me to show you.”

“You should have awakened us.” Aomine wanted to sound angry, but Kuroko knew he wasn’t. But he was embarrassed to the point his nose and cheeks turned red. “I wanted to play basketball…”

“When your body tells you to rest, you have to support it. There’s time for you to play basketball.” Kuroko didn’t expect Madoka to turn to him with a huge smile. “Do you have a girlfriend, Tetsu?” That question didn’t have anything to do with the previous conversation, so Kuroko took some time to elaborate the surprise and didn’t reply immediately.

“No.”

“A boyfriend then?”

“No.”

“Auntie! You’re embarrassing him!”

Kuroko shook his head. “Actually, I don’t really mind. It’s not such an embarrassing topic after all.”

Madoka nodded. “Well said. There’s no reason to be embarrassed by talking about your loved one.”

“Uhm, but I don’t have a loved one…” Kuroko couldn’t stop the question before it slipped from his mouth. “You have one?”

“Sure! I have by my side the most wonderful person in the world! You’ll meet her soon.”

Aomine glanced at his aunt: she looked carefree and was still smiling. Then at Kuroko: he wasn’t showing any emotion in particular.

“Does she work here?”

“No. She owns a café in Tokyo.”

The conversation continued smoothly and Aomine realized he was holding his breath only when he expired loudly. Madoka turned at him.

“Everything alright, Daiki?”

“Yes… did you bake biscuits today?”

“Oh! I forgot!” She stood up and jumped over the circle of candles. “I’ll go take them. Wait here!” Graceful and agile, she hopped to the opening leading to the attic in front of Kuroko’s worried eyes. For a second, he believed one of her feet was about to slip and already pictured her flying down. But she almost jumped back in the house without any heavy noise.

“What’s wrong, Tetsu?” Aomine tilted his head. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“It’s nothing...”

“Ah, don’t mind her. It seems like she acts carefree, but she knows what she does. Some years ago, she kept appearing upside down from the ceiling.”

“…I can’t really imagine it.”

“She was almost better than you at appearing out of nowhere.”

“Better?” Kuroko glanced at Aomine with a plain look, but he couldn’t keep it for much and smiled. “She’s really something, your aunt.”

“She really is. I’m glad you two get along. Oh–” As Aomine pointed in front of him with the index, Kuroko tried to figure out what caught his attention, but didn’t see anything except for the lights of the town. “–a firefly there! Ah, it went away.”

“Are you sure it was a firefly and not a light of the town?”

“I can recognize a firefly!” Aomine pouted. “I know a place where there is plenty of fireflies. I’ll bring you there tomorrow.”

“Don’t change topic, Aomine-kun.”

“I’m not changing it. We’re still talking about fireflies.”

Kuroko deadpanned him. “Fireflies I didn’t see.”

“Because you are slow.”

“And your feet are ridiculously huge.”

“That isn’t even related!” Aomine then fell silent and Kuroko frowned. “Hey Tetsu, what do you think about… well, that my aunt has a girlfriend?”

Kuroko looked thoughtful. “Actually, I can’t figure out what kind of person may be the one she loves.” He was serious. “Why?”

“Ah nothing…”

It seemed like Aomine was about to say something more. But that conversation ended as Madoka arrived with a bowl filled to the brim with biscuits.


	2. Of jellyfish, crows and fireflies

The morning light woke Kuroko up.

A clear room, a huge window opening on a far bright sea and Aomine sleeping next to him. He recalled where he was, what he did –the dinner on the roof and the biscuits– and sat down.

Kuroko didn’t feel tired, yet he felt comfortable on the futon and would have stayed there for a little longer, hearing the low snore coming from Aomine, similar to his cat’s purrs. If only the landscape in front of him hadn’t lured him out. He stood up and wobbled to the small balcony. As he opened the sliding window-door, the fresh morning breeze gently blew on his face, waving the mess the night left on his hair.

Emerald trees surrounding white houses and the town just before the blue sea: it was beautiful. Everything surrounded by the soft sounds of the awakening. Birds, some far sounds of cars, the laughs of some people and – a single loud snore.

Aomine had just turned on the other side, taking some of Kuroko’s futon and hugging his own pillow. It was almost a pity waking him up from that sleep he was enjoying so much. Almost.

Kuroko knelt next to him and shook his shoulder. “Aomine-kun.” He shook it again. “Aomine-kun.”

If only Kuroko had slightly better reflexes (not much, only a little), he would have probably avoided the smack of Aomine’s arm on his nose. Aomine turned around, half of him awakened and half still submerged into the sleep; what brought him entirely on the side of the awakes wasn’t the harsh contact of his arm with Kuroko’s face, but the dull sound of Kuroko falling on the floor. When he opened his eyes, he saw him holding his nose with both arms.

Half an hour later, the emergency was contained, despite Aomine freak out slowed down the whole operation.

“Tetsu, I didn’t mean it.”

“Don’t worry, Aomine-kun.”

They were having breakfast in the veranda. It wasn’t the usual Japanese breakfast: no rice, miso nor fish, but toasted bread with butter and jam with milk and fruit juice. And ice for Kuroko’s nose.

“Has it stopped bleeding?”

“Uhm, I guess so.” Kuroko’s stomach was grumbling in hunger, but it was difficult eating with a small package pressed on the bridge of the nose and the head tilted forward. “Yes, it did.”

When they got down –Aomine freaking out–, Madoka was already gone and she left all the necessary to prepare their breakfast.

“After breakfast we can go downtown at the seaside. Or do you prefer–“

“I want to go to the beach.” As to remark he felt better, Kuroko put the ice on the table and munched on one of the slices Aomine prepared. They were all messy and the jam wasn’t well spread on the whole surface, but he ate it anyway and was grateful.

“We’ll be under the sun. And you’re quite… delicate.”

Kuroko pouted. “What do you mean?”

“You fainted in the hot springs.”

“That happened once.”

“It happened during middle school too.”

“I don’t absolutely remember.”

“I don’t believe you, Tetsu.”

They ate to their hearts’ contents and got changed. Kuroko reached Aomine at the front door: he was testing a white lady bicycle, with a basket on the front and a rack on the back.

“Good as always.” He heard him muttering. “Oh, Tetsu! We’re going with this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

It didn’t seem such a bad idea. Until Kuroko sat on the rack and didn’t exactly know where to hold himself. Aomine put his rucksack on the basket -the bag had clearly the shape of a ball-, while Kuroko kept his on the shoulders – what if he lost his balance because of that? Kuroko thought as Aomine turned the pedals, ready to go. As if he read his mind, he recommended “Tetsu, put your arms around my waist.”

“Like that?”

“Nice!”

Aomine pushed the bicycle forward and the gravity and descent did the rest. Their speed increased at each meter; despite being covered by Aomine’s back, Kuroko felt the wind lashing his hair. He wanted to close his eyes, but, at the same time, he kept looking around: stripes of green flashed in front of his eyes and the buildings darted too fast for him to catch the details. All of a sudden, he heard the screech of the tires and Kuroko tightened his arms around Aomine.

The bicycle bended to the left to take the curve –they were too close to the tar– and Kuroko closed his eyes. He waited for the fall… that didn’t arrive. The bicycle was back in balance.

Aomine laughed. “Are you scared, Tetsu?”

“I’m not.” But his voice betrayed him.

The whole bicycle was vibrating, the rucksack on the basket jolted and the summer breeze whirled around them. Kuroko half-closed his eyes and gazed at the sea. It seemed close and he believed he could touch it only reaching out his arm.

“Aomine-kun.” They had just entered the town and, instead of turning right, where a label was pointing at the beach, they went forward. “Isn’t the beach this way?”

“I’m gonna bring you to a special place.”

They went through the center of the town, passed in front of opening shops and felt the scent of coffee and fresh bread blending with the salty flavor of the sea. When the beach was again in sight, they had reached the other side of the town and the buildings were only few houses.

The special place were cliffs sinking into the sea. Aomine chained the bicycle against a lightstreet.

“Aomine-kun, where are we?”

“If we walk on these rocks, we’ll reach a small beach. Nobody knows about it.” He noticed Kuroko’s perplexed look. “You won’t have problems. The surfaces are smooth.”

He was right, the cliffs were composed of big almost squared rocks which created a sort of path. Plus, they looked solid. However, Kuroko wasn’t convinced at all. Him and Aomine had clearly different physical skills.

“Oi, Tetsu. Let’s go.”

Aomine leaped on the first rock and tended his hand to him. Kuroko took it and jumped after him.

The beach wasn’t far. A little golden jewel surrounded by rocks which seemed could be gulped down by the sea. Unfortunately, it seemed like that secret place wasn’t so secret anymore.

“I can’t believe it…”

“Don’t worry, Aomine-kun. We can go somewhere else.”

They looked at a group of young people who were playing with a ball in the water. They were more than ten and could occupy the whole strip of beach.

“Damn it, how dare them!”

“Have you called dibs on this beach?”

“I was the only one who knew it!”

“In one year many things change.”

Kuroko heard Aomine’s loud snort. “Whatever… it’s been three years since the last time, I had to expect it.”

“I thought you came here every year.”

Aomine shrugged. “Not really…” He didn’t talk until they reached the bicycle. “It turned out my grandparents weren’t really fond of auntie and my parents convinced me to go with them instead. Just because they’re old and didn’t want to disappoint them. My grandfather throws tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants. During that period I had other things on my mind…“ Kuroko knew he was referring to the downfall in middle school. “…so, it happened.”

“I see.”

Aomine glanced at him. “Aren’t you asking me why they didn’t want me to come here?”

“Do you want to tell me?”

He wanted. Kuroko thought Aomine was just waiting for the right someone to talk about it. He pushed the bicycle on the road along the beach; two girls were jogging towards their direction and turned back few meters from them, going back towards the town.

“It’s because auntie found herself a girlfriend. I mean, yesterday you…”

“I realized she didn’t confuse the pronouns.”

“Well, my grandfather went mad and they didn’t want her to, uhm… how did they say? Ah, yes, taunt me. Which is stupid, because I liked boobs from before!” Kuroko found that comment inappropriate but kept the thought for himself. “And, nothing. She kept in touch with me, but I wasn’t that great talker. Especially after middle school. So I’ve never thought she would have tried this year too.”

“She wants you to come.”

“Yes… and I decided to come, because I like spending time with her.” However, he didn’t sound convinced, as if there was something else bothering him. “Do you think I betrayed her trust?”

Kuroko expected Aomine to feel guilty. “I don’t think so. She looks clever. I suppose she figured it out somehow, or else she wouldn’t have invited you over this year too.”

“Maybe she’s just being kind.”

“Aomine-kun, you don’t stick around with someone you don’t like.” Kuroko was always puzzled by how Aomine, who looked self-confident from the outside, was unsure about many things. “Hey, let’s drop here.” He pointed some trees which created a useful shadow on a tiny bit of beach; there were only old people around.

“Why here?”

“It seems peaceful.”

“But it’s far from everything, Tetsu.”

“The town isn’t so far, there are few houses around already.”

Aomine sighed. “Well, our first choice is out of question. Let’s go…”

Kuroko realized three things that morning.

First. The inhabitants of the town were very kind and ready to help people they had never met. Second. Madoka was already fond of him and worried like a mother. Third. Jellyfish stings hurt more than a ball in the face.

“Doctor, will he walk again?” Madoka was acting as if Kuroko was bitten by a shark and not stung by a jellyfish.

The doctor of the ER, a man on his sixties who looked like a gentle grandfather with a long gray beard and long gray hair tied in a braid, chuckled. “Last time you worried like this, Aomine went into the nettles to retrieve his basketball.”

“I was twelve!”

The man sprayed something on Kuroko’s skin. “You have to put a 50+ sunscreen on it.”

“I’m already using it.”

“Oh, very good then. We’ve never had those many jellyfish, but at least one person per summer gets stung. You’re the first one this year, congratulation!”

That was a first place Kuroko would have gladly avoided.

“Can you walk?” Madoka got close to Kuroko as he stood up.

“I can. I’m feeling better.”

Aomine scratched the back of his head. “First the nose, then the jellyfish. Not your day, huh, Tetsu?”

“Nose? What nose?”

Madoka looked directly at him and Aomine realized he couldn’t lie to her. “I… accidentally smashed Tetsu’s nose this morning.”

“Oh, Daiki.” She rubbed Kuroko’s head a bit too vigorously to be gentle. “What a first morning for you, Tetsu.” She left him with messy hair and a vague sensation of spinning.

The doctor smiled. “I advise you to take it easy today, Kuroko-kun. No idling under the sun.”

Madoka agreed. “Since this is the case, why don’t you both come at my workplace for today?”

There was a museum in the town center. The building was the old elementary school and they kept all the drawings left behind, displaying them on the entrance. Madoka became the curator there and she usually organized events for the whole year but the summer, when it was displayed a collection owned by the town itself.

“It’s because during summer there are too many tourists.” She explained to Kuroko. “And not that many hotels or people willing to rent their free rooms. We cannot host both tourists and people who come here exclusively for an exhibition.”

The museum was bright. Huge windows seemed to be the mark of the buildings there and the sunlight made useless, during the day, the lights installed over the paintings. They sat on a bench at the center of the fresh room and looked at a painting as big as the whole wall. A dirt road was heading out from a thriving forest, cut by a small creek only to continue until an old Japanese castle in the distance. Among all the other paintings, each one representing a different landscape, that became Kuroko’s favorite.

“It seems real.” Kuroko was amazed.

“Yes… like two years ago.” Aomine yawned. “Maybe we can go play basketball this evening.”

“I guess so, I’ll feel better by then.”

“Does it hurt?”

“It only stings a bit. I think it was a small jellyfish.”

Aomine stood up. “Let’s go to the museum’s cafeteria and buy an ice cream.”

They went from sitting in front of a painting to sitting in front of the sea, under a veranda, eating an ice cream. Madoka saw and joined them.

“Are you feeling better, Tetsu?”

It seemed like having an older sister. Kuroko somehow associated her to Kiyoshi.

“I do, thank you.”

“Man, you’re so unlucky. Today’s misadventure won’t be helpful for your stamina.”

“What about my stamina?”

Aomine looked away, clearly avoiding Kuroko’s questioning look.

“Well, Daiki told me you’re weak.”

“I didn’t say those words!”

“That’s the gist of it.” She chuckled. “By the way, tomorrow there are the fireworks for the festival. Gotta find you both a kimono. Daiki, you grew so tall that it’ll be difficult…”

“There’s no need for a kimono, auntie.”

“Tomorrow evening you won’t leave my house without a kimono.”

“You can’t shut me in!”

Madoka munched on the ice cream. “Try me.” Even if messed, Aomine caught the words.

Kuroko was interested. “Where’s the festival?”

“Didn’t Daiki tell you?”

“No.”

Aomine shrugged at Madoka’s look. She explained. “In the old part of the town. Nobody lives there anymore, but during summer there are stalls and concerts. Once they invited a group of kabuki performers.”

“So, we need a kimono.” Kuroko glanced at Aomine.

Madoka did the same. “Yup.”

“He-hey. Tetsu, we have to play basketball!”

Kuroko already had a kimono. It was his grandmother who insisted to put it into the luggage. Aomine, on the other hand, knew about that _kimono rule_ his aunt established, but he made two mistakes: he believed he was old enough to escape from it and he didn’t remember in two years-time he grew much taller than many boys of his age and renting a kimono became the _after-lunch difficult task_.

They visited every single shop in town, then became desperate enough to go to some people Madoka knew. One of them, an old lady, had a nice light blue kimono which belonged to her brother and she gladly borrowed it.

That tour was useful for Kuroko to know the town: the baker who was opened all night long, the tiny shop which sold the best ice creams, the owner of a dress shop who always had an anecdote to tell. He saw where were the railway and bus station, the new elementary school, next to the middle school, and the town hall. Everything seemed far to the eyes but close to the legs; it was pleasant walking into the salty sea breeze. In the long run to the shops and the stops to make Kuroko eat something because, according to Madoka, he was too slim, they ended up going back to the museum; Aomine was carrying a huge paper bag with him.

“I have some work to finish.” Madoka said. “You can wait here, or–“

“A walk.” Aomine gave her the paper bag. “We’ll meet back home.”

“Okay, don’t be late for dinner!”

Kuroko sat on the bicycle’s rack. He was a bit more confident and didn’t squeeze Aomine’s waist, but simply put both arms on his hips.

“Where are we going?”

“Playing basketball! I didn’t bring the ball with me for nothing!”

The basketball court was right behind the park, near to the beachside. Because of that, many people used to play with the bathing suits. Even children.

“…I can’t believe it.”

“Called dibs on that too?”

Aomine clung on the net around the court with both hands and lowered his head in desperation. He wanted to play, yet he couldn’t just shoo away the children who were enjoying themselves. The one who seemed to be the older probably wasn’t in middle school yet.

“We can play somewhere else.”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“I know.” Kuroko tried to make eye contact with him and had to bend his knees, because Aomine seemed he didn’t want to raise his eyesight from the tar dirtied in sand. “Aomine-kun, why do you want to play so badly here?”

“Because I really enjoyed it here. It was fun. I thought it would have been fun for you too.”

Now that he said it aloud, Aomine realized it sounded like a stupid thing. He looked away, faking an interest for the many restaurants and cafés lined on the street.

“Do you want something fresh to drink?”

“No thanks. Your aunt stuffed me as if she wanted to eat me.”

Aomine laughed. “So you would be Hansel?”

“That would make you Gretel then.”

His chuckles disappeared immediately. “Hey!” But he didn’t have much time to feel irritated. Aomine heard the ball bouncing closer and turned his head guided by the instinct before he realized that it was rolling out of the court entrance. He dashed aside and blocked it before it could hit a car passing by.

Aomine noticed it turned a bit too silent. All the children were looking at him with the same expression, as if they became one: mouths wide opened and eyes gaping. That leap wasn’t a big deal for Aomine, who was used to dash around in the court, but for the children that was a first. He entered the court, holding the ball in one hand. At each step he grew taller in front of them and they raised their heads, still bewildered.

“Be careful.” He sounded quite harsh, more than he wanted to. “Uhm… don’t risk hurting yourselves…?”

Still silence and Aomine wondered if they were scared of him. A group of seven children who were staring to what was a giant for them; the taller, who was a little girl with pony tails, barely reached Aomine’s chest.

“Hello.”

Everyone startled at the same time. Aomine too. He had almost forgotten about Kuroko.

“T-Tetsu!”

Kuroko bowed towards the children. “Nice to meet you, I’m Kuroko Tetsuya. Aomine-kun…” That sounded like a reprimand. “…give them back their ball.”

“Ah, yes.”

A boy with glasses was the one who approached Aomine and took the ball with trembling hands. Aomine wondered if he was that small too at his age. The boy opened his mouth, but it took him some seconds to articulate some words.

“Are you the zashiki warashi who controls this karasu tengu?”

“Ryouta, don’t be silly!” The girls with pony tails scolded him. “Zashiki warashi and karasu tengu don’t exist!”

However, against the mockery that could rise from that brave question, Kuroko nodded. “I am. I’m sorry if he made your ball roll away.”

Aomine looked shocked. “I did what?!”

“But, you see, he loves basketball and just wants to play.”

Another little girl, hidden behind her friends, took a step forward. “Do you know how to dunk?”

“Can you throw from far away?” Asked another one throwing his hand in the air as if that was a sign to mark his turn to talk.

Aomine found himself surrounded by a crowd of children jumping to desperately have some of his attention.

“Tetsu! Tetsu!” He snarled at Kuroko, who was ignored. “I’m covering you in jellyfish when this will be over!” Kuroko tilted his head at that threat and shrugged.

“Now I have antibodies.”

“It doesn’t work like that!”

They spent almost two hours playing basketball with the children, until their parents went fetch them to go back to their respective hotels. Aomine clearly heard the girl with pony tails saying to her mother “He’s really a karasu tengu. A human couldn’t jump so high!”.

“Tetsu, why did you say I am a karasu tengu?”

“Because you look too scary to be a zashiki warashi.”

“I don’t look scary, I look cool.”

Kuroko looked at the bicycle. “Are you going to bring me back home on that?”

“I cannot on a climb. It’s impossible. We’ll have to walk. Hey, don’t give me that look, I’ll seriously die if I try!”

They walked back home trying to create their path under anything that could give them a shadow for cover. Both were soaked in sweat as they arrived and didn’t even drop by their room but went straight into the bathroom.

Dinner wasn’t on the roof, but on the first floor. After all the things Madoka made him taste during the afternoon, Kuroko wasn’t sure he could reach the end of his holiday alive. He would have died with his stomach filled with good food at least.

“I’ve never thought that our first day at the beach would have ended with you injured.”

“Tomorrow you’ll go in the water first.”

“What about your antibodies now, huh?”

Madoka smiled. “Now now, don’t argue.” Aomine stood up. “Where are you going, Daiki?”

“I want to see the fireflies.”

Kuroko stood up too. “I want to see them too.”

“Be careful, okay? Mind the nettles.”

Aomine pouted and walked out of the porch, followed by Kuroko.

They crossed the road and climbed over the little stone wall marking the road and headed into the scrub surrounding the houses. The light of the streetlamps seemed immediately too far, and Kuroko turned back to check it was just his impression; but he couldn’t tell.

“Aomine-kun.”

“Does your leg hurt?”

“No. I have it covered. Just slow down a bit.” He didn’t know that place and was being careful; the last thing he wanted was a sprained ankle.

“My bad.” Aomine crouched down. “Get on.”

“What?”

“I’ll bring you.”

“I don’t need it.”

“This way you won’t touch any strange plant. Plus, I’m faster than you.”

Kuroko snorted from his nose. But he let Aomine carry him.

They headed further into and the only light over them was that of the moon. The lights of the town were turning into tiny spots in the distance and the only sound, except for Aomine’s steps dulled by the grass, were the sounds of some animals, maybe owls.

“Aomine-kun.”

“We’re almost there.”

As he said it, he took a step forward and many tiny glimmering lights raised from the grass. Kuroko looked at them pulsating away into the darkness, betrayed by their own light. In front of them, other fireflies danced in the air, disappearing in one spot and appearing a bit further.

“So many.” Aomine tried to catch one with his right hand but failed.

“Don’t bother them, Aomine-kun.”

“I had to bring a jar.”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“I would have freed them.”

“I don’t think they would like being trapped in a jar.”

“…I used to do it when I was younger.”

“Once I tried too. My grandmother scolded me.” Kuroko looked at those glimmers sparkling against the dark landscape. “Am I heavy? I can stand.”

“No, you’re not heavy at all.”

To underline it, Aomine adjusted him on his back with a jolt, making Kuroko’s leg slide from the bend of his elbows to his hands. Kuroko felt the fingers grabbing the muscles of his thighs. He leaned his chin on Aomine’s head.

“Tetsu?”

“You used to do this a lot when we were in middle school.”

“Just don’t fall asleep.”

“I won’t.”

On their way back, Aomine realized Kuroko fell asleep when he didn’t feel his hands on his shoulders anymore and saw them dangle on his chest in a soft unconscious touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't pee on jellifish stings. Really, it's bad for the health.


	3. Flower blossoms

“You should’ve waken me up.”

“I tried. But you were drooling.”

“Aomine-kun, you’re a liar.”

“I’m not. Next time I’ll make a video.”

The bicycle jerked on the descent but Aomine didn’t lose the control once. Kuroko enjoyed the wind running through his hair – and he would have regretted it later when catching his own reflection on the window of a shop.

“This morning we are earlier. I’m sure there’s no one at my place.”

“You should pay for it.”

“But it’s free.”

“Then it’s not yours.”

“Oh, shut up, Tetsu!”

He stopped near the streetlamp, the tires screeched a bit, and got off after Kuroko. Aomine looked at him trying to push down his messy hair with both hands, but the set given by the wind was stronger and couldn’t be adjusted only with that.

Aomine was right, there was no one at the small beach. Kuroko expected it to be filled by natural remnants, pebbles, shards of shells, leaves falling from the trees above them and whatever could stick to their feet and probably hurt them. There were some, of course, but not that many to turn the beach into a natural minefield.

The morning sun shone directly on them and Kuroko thought that in no time that magnificent white sand would have turned into an oven. Maybe Aomine read his thoughts, because he pointed at the cliff.

“Down there there’s a small cave. In there it’s so fresh you can stay all day long.”

“What if it collapses?”

“It’s safe. They check it every year before summer.”

Aomine sounded hurt, as if Kuroko insulted the place he cared for. Or as if he didn’t trust him. “I’m sure. I was just teasing you a bit, it’s fun.”

“You’re spending too much time with Kagami.”

“He’s my teammate. And he’s naïve, he would never think about saying something sneaky. I was like this from the start.”

“What?” Aomine shook his head. “That’s not–” But in an instant many memories flew into his mind. The happy memories from high school that the pain of how it ended suppressed, because it hurt much more thinking about something that would have never happened anymore, than denying it. He recalled when Kise mocked Kuroko because he received a poisonous-looking chocolate from Momoi and then Kuroko hid all his underwear for a whole week (nobody knew who was, but everyone in the Kiseki was aware, except Kise himself); then he tied together the shoes of a senpai who kept bullying an underclassman. Aomine recalled when he shoved an ice cream into his school uniform too. “Nah, nevermind. You were a little asshole back then too.”

“Why little?” Kuroko looked pissed off.

“Are you worried about that and not the asshole?” Aomine left the bag under a shadow created by the trees. “Come on, let’s go swim a bit.”

“Wait, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko took out from his bag a piece of plastic folded on itself many times so that it was a thick triangle composed by many thin layers. “Your aunt gave me this lifebelt.” He opened it, showing a huge clear ring with the pattern of a donut, with colored sprinkles on a pink icing.

“If you inflate that, we’ll be back at the hospital.” Aomine commented.

“That’s why you’ll inflate it.”

“What?! Why me?!”

“Because I’m short, remember?”

Aomine read accusation into his look and sighed. “Whatever, give me that thing.”

Many minutes later, they were into the water. A calm, fresh beautiful see. The water was so clear they could perfectly see their bodies into the water; they spotted some schools of fish so tiny that they weren’t even as long as Kuroko’s pinkie and many crabs who were fast at hiding under the sand as they felt unusual movements of the water.

Kuroko was floating on the lifebelt. Aomine splashed some water on him.

“Hey.”

Aomine went underwater and left out the head only from his mouth. “Are you worried that if you go into the water all that sunscreen will be wiped away? You still have some on the nose.” There was a feeble white trace on the tip of his nose.

“My skin is sensitive.”

“But you forced me to wear it too.”

“You may have dark skin, but you have to protect it.”

“You talk like Satsuki.” Aomine raised from the water, bringing with him a small wave that made the lifebelt wobble on the surface. He put both hands under the huge pink donut and the world turned upside down in front of Kuroko’s eyes before he could realize what Aomine’s intentions were. He dived underwater and raised up taking a deep breath: he moved the hair away and rubbed his eyes, he also coughed a bit.

“That’s not funny.” He deadpanned at Aomine, who was laughing without trying to hold himself.

“And you can’t do that to me. I’m too heavy.”

“You’re as fat as Kagami-kun.”

“This is not fat.” Aomine slapped his flat stomach. “These are muscles.”

Kuroko was about to reply, but then he changed his mind and splashed Aomine with a huge handful of water. Suddenly, all around them it was a wall of splash of water. Their strengths were different and Aomine raised more water than Kuroko. However, both had fun. They couldn’t see anything except the white sprays of water surrounding them and hearing the noise of their hands smashing against the surface to throw as much water as possible and the loud sound of their laughs. Kuroko was the first one who surrendered and Aomine raised both hands.

“I won!”

But Kuroko wasn’t looking at him. He pointed at the beach behind him.

“Aomine-kun, look.”

A group of boys and girls. Probably the ones from the previous day, Aomine thought; Kuroko was sure it was them, as he recognized the girl with long brown hair: she was wearing the same huge straw hat covered in red flowers.

“Well, we got here first.”

“It’s not a challenge, you know?”

“There’s no place for everyone.”

“I think there is.”

Aomine snorted. “Okay, okay… I’m thirsty.” He walked towards the beach and Kuroko followed him. He cut to the right, where, near the cave, there were their bags, and avoided getting closer to the other side, where the group was putting on the sand two beach umbrellas and adjusting their beach towels. They probably were around their age.

At first, they ignored them and both Aomine and Kuroko drank some water in peace. But right when Aomine put the bottle away and was about to ask what they had to do in the afternoon, two girls approached them. Or better, they approached Aomine and totally ignored Kuroko, standing at his side as if he was one of the countless rocks forming the cliff.

“Hi.” It was the girl with brown hair. If Kuroko had to compare her to someone, she would have said she had Momoi’s same beauty. “Are you new here?”

The problem was they were two girls. For how Aomine could be bothered by someone else’s presence, he had no capability to deal with a girl who wasn’t Momoi. Plus, the girl who was talking had a breast generous enough to catch his attention. He massaged his neck in distress and frowned trying to hide his embarrassment.

“No. I come here every year.”

“Ah, nice!” The girl clapped the hands together. Her friend, who had black shoulder-length hair, didn’t show the same enthusiasm. “We are going to play with the ball a bit. Do you want to join us?”

Aomine turned to Kuroko. “What do you think, Tetsu?”

It was in that moment that the girls noticed a second guy was there. Too plain and lame-looking, so that the presence of the boy with nice abs and looks eclipsed him. The girls shrieked and made a small jump away from him; the one with black hair collided with her friend and stomped on her right foot.

“I’m Kuroko Tetsuya.” Kuroko bowed his head. “Nice to meet you.”

They remained speechless.

“Aomine Daiki.”

Kuroko turned to him. “It’s the same for me, Aomine-kun.”

“I see… well, we haven’t much to do…”

“I think we can join, if they agree.”

It took a moment before the girl with black hair recovered from the surprise. She quietly nodded. “Uhm, alright then. You can stay under our umbrellas if you want.”

Those guys came from a town not far from there, yet, that was the first year that their parents allowed them to go on holiday on their own.

Kuroko realized the only reason they were allowed to stay temporarily into that group was because the girl with brown hair took an interest in Aomine. She looked at ease while she invited him to spread his beach towel next to hers and Kuroko had to poke his back to awaken him from the frozen state his brain put him into. He recovered when they entered the water to play, because the game was his natural element and, even if it was a sort of beach volley, Aomine gave it all and his mind was focused only on the ball and on nothing else. Kuroko spent most of the game looking at the ball flying over his head and being careful that no one, in an attempt of retrieving the ball, fell on him.

Lunch time arrived before they noticed and Aomine sat next to girl; Kuroko was right on his other side. She wasn’t touchy or intrusive, but she crossed her legs and their knees slightly touched. Aomine noticed and adjusted himself breaking the contact. Kuroko saw her chuckle.

The girl, Nanami, touched Aomine’s shoulder once. Her hips brushed against his when she bended to take something from her bag. Their arms pressed one against the other as she was showing him the photographs of her dog. Then, Kuroko heard his name.

“Tetsu has a dog too. He loves basketball.”

“Tetsu? Ah, your friend.” Nanami chuckled. “He or the dog likes it?” She was proud of her small joke.

“Both.”

That reply took her aback, but she was fast at recovering. “And you play basketball too, Daiki?” She called him with his first name from the beginning.

A guy from the group, who was listening, shrugged. “I think he plays volleyball. He was good.”

“No. I play basketball.”

Some excited murmurs.

“There’s a court in the town. We can play someday.” Someone proposed and somebody else agreed.

“But there’s the festival tonight.” The girl with black hair, Reika, recalled. “And I haven’t brought my kimono for nothing!” That sounded like a menace.

Nanami caught the chance. “We can go together.”

Aomine’s eyes darted towards Kuroko. “Ah, actually I–”

“Of course, your friend is invited too.”

She was energic, she knew what he wanted. If she was a basketball team, Aomine would have known how to handle her. But she was a girl, a cute girl with a generous breast, and Aomine was weak.

“But I have to go with my aunt. I promised her.”

Her smile faded as fast as the hopeful glimmer into her eyes.

“Oh. Your aunt?”

It was like Aomine destroyed something with those few words.

“Yes. I go with her every year, so…”

She shrugged. “Well, I guess we’ll meet around then.”

After that short conversation, Nanami’s cheerful attitude towards Aomine took a twist towards something more moderate and composed. Aomine himself noticed it but couldn’t get why. Kuroko explained it to him on their way back home.

“Because she likes you.”

“We barely met.” Aomine massaged his head. “She had nice breasts though…”

“Are you regretting it?”

“But I promised auntie.” He didn’t sound sorry. “It’s one of the things we always do.”

“So, you’d rather go out with Nanami-san?”

“What? No! I like hanging out with my aunt! She could have invited me another time!”

That _she_ was Nanami.

“Probably she didn’t expect you to refuse her so openly.”

“I didn’t refuse her. I didn’t even realize she was asking me out!” Aomine defended himself.

“That’s because your brain doesn’t catch details.”

“You know Tetsu, you’ve been insulting me a lot lately!”

“It’s not an insult, it’s the truth.”

“Hey!”

Kuroko laughed and walked in front of him. “I know. I was just joking.”

“What an asshole.” But Aomine was smiling.

The clear kimono suited Aomine. It contrasted with his dark skin and the white pattern of feathers was nice on him more than he believed when he first saw it. Kuroko’s kimono was of a darker shade of blue and there was no pattern on it, but the clear belt was striped.

“Ah, you’re dressed already.” Kuroko had just exited the shower and was wearing a bathrobe.

“Why don’t you use the towels? That thing makes me feel hot.”

“It’s comfortable.”

Kuroko wiped his hair and body. The very moment he took the bathrobe off, Aomine commented “Ah, you tanned a bit. There’s the sign of the swimsuit.”

“Are you looking at my bottom, Aomine-kun?”

“No, at the sign of your swimsuit.” Aomine put a finger on his hip, on the line that signed the change of color of Kuroko’s skin. Kuroko shifted aside.

“Please, don’t do that.”

“Wow, you’re really pale.”

Kuroko ignored him and put on his kimono. He took less time than Aomine and, as he was done, they both went down in the living room.

Madoka was waiting for them. Her was pink with sunflowers painted on it and she tied her hair in a bun stopped by two elegant hair sticks crossed. The geta on the floor as she approached them, resulted in a delicate and pleasant sound.

“You’re done finally.”

“Tetsu took ages to be done.”

“That’s not true.”

She smiled. “I want to introduce you to someone.”

Aomine and Kuroko glanced at each other. Kuroko wasn’t sure if Aomine realized who that someone was, but he did. There was only an answer that would have explained her bright smile and her light steps: she was like wind, she was almost flying.

A woman was sitting on the veranda. Her hair wasn’t as long as Madoka but was long enough for her to tie it into a ponytail. She had her legs closed and the hands leaning on them. There was an ashtray next to her with a single cigarette butt smashed at the center of a thin dark gray ash. Her face was gentle, her smile a bit embarrassed. She stood up: she was shorter than Madoka but not as thin as she was; the muscles of her arms were well-defined, maybe she worked out.

“These are your guests.” She bowed. “Nice to meet you, I’m Hanami Hinata.”

“They are my nephew, Daiki, and his friend, Tetsuya.”

She wasn’t wearing a kimono, Aomine noticed, but had white flowers in her hair – surely his aunt adjusted them. She had a green tank top and a pair of jeans; a type of clothing which fitted her strong body but didn’t match her delicate face. There was a contrast between her expression and the rest of her and Aomine didn’t know that those could connect that well into a person.

“Aomine Daiki.” He muttered. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Kuroko Tetsuya.” He bowed back. “It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Hanami-san.”

“Call me Hinata.” She touched her left ear and gave out a small chuckle. “I didn’t expect you nephew to be this tall. I imagined him to be different from your descriptions.”

“Well, it’s been two years.” Madoka defended herself.

“It’s not like I was much shorter two years ago.” Aomine commented.

Kuroko shook his head. “You grew up from the last year. It’s pretty obnoxious.”

“It’s not my fault you always remain the same siz–ouch!”

Aomine felt Kuroko’s fingers sinking deep inside his ribs and couldn’t suppress a moan of pain.

“You–”

“Time to go!” Madoka suppressed his attempt of giving Kuroko back what he had just received putting an arm around his neck and kissing him on the cheek. Aomine flushed and wriggled away. She chuckled.

“Even if I forgot my kimono?” Hinata didn’t sound like she was sorry for it.

“Yes, even if you did it on purpose.”

They walked down the road, Aomine and Kuroko followed Madoka and Hinata. At a certain point, none of the boys noticed when it happend, their fingers intertwined; Madoka nuzzled against Hinata’s cheek and made her laugh.

“You act like a cat.”

Those gestures were so natural that they failed to find anything bizarre in them – not like the couple of old men who squeezed their eyes at them.

The festival was at the end of the stream of people flowing into the old town. The houses there were in stone, the streets narrow, and the lights came from the paper lamps hanging on treads over their heads. Like a living pinballs with people, they bumped into other people as there wasn’t enough space to carve some for oneself. Aomine grabbed Kuroko’s hand before he could lose sight of him.

“Don’t let me go, Tetsu, or else I won’t find you anymore.”

Kuroko frowned. “I can keep your–“ His words lost themselves in the moan of pain as a small group of people walked next to Aomine as if there was no one near him and crushed Kuroko away. Kuroko felt his arm being tugged, the shoulder hurt, and he lost the contact with Aomine’s hand.

“Tetsu!” Aomine grasped the air, so he tried again. When he felt Kuroko’s fingers into his hand, he dragged him near himself. “What were you saying?”

Kuroko looked upset. “I guess there’s too many people.”

Madoka and Hinata didn’t notice anything. They were a bit far from them

“Daiki, Tetsu, don’t stay too behind.” She called them. “Where do you want to eat?”

“Anywhere is fine.” Kuroko replied, but Aomine’s words overcame his calm voice.

“Fried fish! Down there!”

Among the many scents -sweet, strong, salty, delicate- Kuroko recognized the appealing fragrance of fried fish. The frizzle of the fish into the oil accompanied the voice of the man who was inviting everyone to taste his unique recipe. They didn’t pay much, but a single paper cornet was enough for two. Aomine tried to take his, but it burnt too much and had to cover it with two napkins. Hinata held hers and Madoka’s with bare hands.

They walked looking for somewhere to seat. However, by the time they found a nice spot, they had already finished and were trying to decide what to eat next. Kuroko was already full, so he just gazed around. People, stalls, colors, sounds and the artificial starry sky of lanterns. Almost everyone was wearing a kimono –Madoka remarked this to Hinata and received a poke on the nose–, the voices were low murmurs piling one on the other in a gentle orchestra, many people had masks of spirits covering their faces.

“It seems another world.”

Kuroko commented to himself but Aomine heard him and agreed. “It is.” But his contemplation didn’t last any longer and he pointed at another stall. “Look, Tetsu. The shooting.”

“Do you want to try?”

“Sure!”

Madoka noticed it too. “Oh, I want to win that cute stuffed dog.”

She pointed at a husky shaped small stuffed toy. It totally looked like Nigou, Aomine noticed, and he went beside his aunt to have a better look.

“I’ll win it, of course.”

“You’re too young. Just come again in few years, okay, Daiki?” She patted his shoulder. “Let me get that dog.”

Those words triggered Aomine’s competition. He glared at his aunt and snorted. “I bet I can get it faster than you.”

Madoka frowned back.

In no time, Kuroko and Hinata were sitting on a bench, looking at both of them giving the money to the woman at the stall.

“Madoka is competitive.” Hinata commented.

“Don’t worry. Aomine-kun is the same.” He recalled when he and Kagami used up all the coins they had to get a toy from the mechanical claw: both failed. The situation was more or less the same.

Hinata handed him the package of gummy bears. Kuroko took one and thanked her.

“How long have you known Daiki?”

“Since middle school.”

“It’s been some time then.”

“Yes, it is…”

“I lost contact with all my middle school classmates when I entered high school. A bit sad.”

Kuroko had a vague recollection of the feeling and nodded. “Sometimes it happens.”

“But I became friends with some people from college.” She smiled in apology.” Maybe I’m boring you.”

“No, you’re not.”

Hinata glanced at the stall. “Uhm, have they started already?”

Kuroko nodded. “I guess so.”

Hinata was totally different from Madoka: she was a calm spirit into a seemingly strong body. However, despite she didn’t follow the _standards_ of feminine beauty, she was beautiful. Kuroko wondered if it was because they were together, as  Madoka too seemed brighter.

After less than two minutes, Aomine and his aunt walked to the bench wearing the same sulking face which made obvious their kin.

“What happened?” Hinata massaged Madoka’s back as she sat next to her.

“With all the money we had to spend to take the stuffed toy, I could buy three of them.”

“Yes.” Aomine agreed. “Each turn is too expensive!”

“But who won?” Kuroko noticed Aomine wrinkled his nose.

“Even…”

Madoka forgot fast about the disappointment; she shared an ice cream with Hinata and the gloomy atmosphere abandoned her. Aomine took something more than an ice cream but by the time the fireworks were about to display, his stomach was filled, and his good mood restored.

“There’s a good spot here.” Madoka chirped. Even with the geta, she managed to hop on the grass.

It was probably something that run in the family, the tendency of going into the woods. They stopped in front of a huge tree (the roots reached Kuroko’s waist) and Kuroko waited right behind Aomine. As Madoka started to climb the tree -and she was agile, despite wearing the kimono- Kuroko paled.

“Madoka.” It seemed like Hinata reprimanded her; yet, she followed her steps. “Not like that, you may fall!”

“I won’t!” She replied disappearing among the leaves.

“Come on, Tetsu.” Aomine waved his hand, inviting Kuroko to follow him.

“Aomine-kun… I don’t think I can do this.”

“It’s easy. This tree has steps, more or less.”

Kuroko looked closely. Well, the roots and branches were close, so it was easier climbing it. However, climbing trees wasn’t really his specialty and he was wearing a kimono and a pair of geta.

“I’ll cover your back.” Aomine stayed behind him. “You won’t fall, because I’ll support you.” They looked at each other and when Kuroko didn’t reply, Aomine massaged his neck. “Or we can ask my aunt, you know, she doesn’t seem that strong, but–“

“Okay.” Kuroko stopped his flow of words. “Aomine-kun, I trust you.”

Aomine had never managed to hide his feeling, so it was easy for Kuroko to read what was running inside him: he was embarrassed, flattered and didn’t know how to react. So, he frowned and poked his back.

“Come on. The fireworks will start in no time.” He sounded a bit crude, but Kuroko didn’t mind.

When he had just started climbing, worried that the geta could slip away from his feet, Kuroko heard Aomine’s voice floating from behind to hurry him.

“Tetsu, go a bit faster. I can catch you, you’re not that big.”

“Aomine-kun, I do hope that your magazines at home will spontaneously combust.”

“What?!”

Then, a loud bang echoed in the sky and some sparkles tried to pass among the leaves.

“Oh no, they’re early!” They heard Madoka’s voice. “Hurry up!”

The bangs arrived one after the other and the boys knew they lost the beginning of the show.

When Kuroko’s head burst through the last barrier of leaves, a blue flower of lights bloomed into the dark sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people climb trees with flip flops. I barely climb stairs.


	4. Sunshine and sunflowers

It was very early in the morning. Madoka woke them up before the sun rose saying that they would have made a trip. Kuroko thought he didn’t hear well, mostly because part of him was still clinging to the futon, or he had just had a strange dream about Aomine’s aunt coming into their room. But then he stood up, got dressed and left Aomine hugging his pillow only to find Madoka downstairs preparing breakfast. She looked refreshed as if she hadn’t slept less than five hours; Kuroko’s eyes were swollen from lack of sleep and his hair messy from the cushion.

By the time he sat down and drank some milk, Madoka went upstairs and descended a handful of minutes later.

“Daiki was still sleeping, she explained.”

Kuroko nodded, and his eyes wandered through the windows. It wasn’t night anymore, but the sun hadn’t raised yet and only a far radiance was enlightening the outside. The light in the living room was on. Kuroko saw a bag on a chair. The only noise was the slight sound of Madoka’s steps.

“I prepared lunch for today.” She explained as she noticed he was contemplating the bag. Actually, he was so tired that he almost arrived to the point he wasn’t seeing it.

“Thank you.” Kuroko shook his head. “May I ask you something?”

“Of course?”

“How did you find the observing spot on that tree?”

Madoka chuckled. “That’s an old story.” She stopped adding food on the table for breakfast and sat in front of Kuroko. “It happened when Daiki was six years old. One day he was sad because I couldn’t play with him even if I promised and he escaped home. You can imagine how much that scared me.” She took a deep breath, as if she was experiencing again the pain and the anguish of his nephew disappearing. “Do you know what happened then? I heard him crying.”

“Crying?”

“Yes. He climbed a tree and couldn’t get off on his own.”

“It’s that tree.”

She nodded. “Yes. From up there, I noticed it was a nice spot. That wood is nice, but hardly anyone goes there because there’s a bigger wood right behind the hill.”

“I see.”

Hinata woke up. Aomine woke up too. But none of them looked awaken. They ate with their eyes half closed and when they got on the pickup the sleep fell on them almost immediately. Hinata was sleeping even if her eyes wobbled against the window, while Aomine curled himself on one of the sacks (not flour) and didn’t wake up until they arrived.

Kuroko didn’t sleep. The morning breeze awakened him, and he looked at the landscape rolling around him: the dark sky stained in pink and light blue in the distance, the sun slowly rising to enlighten the green surrounding the route they took. And then, the yellow. It exploded in front of them, a vast sea of sunflowers which reached the horizon and surely went beyond it.

The sky was light blue already, and all the flowers were staring at the sun, ready to follow it during its daily path. The road continued into that sea and ended in front of an old abandoned house next to some trees providing a tempting shadow. Further, beyond that quiet place, there was another green spot, maybe a woods.

“Who lived there?” Kuroko asked.

“An old lady. She passed away some years ago, but I keep coming here from time to time.” Madoka kissed Hinata on the cheek. “Hey, wake up!”

Kuroko glanced at Aomine. “Aomine-kun. We arrived.” He believed that wasn’t enough, but Aomine lazily opened his eyes, sat down and threw both arms in the air to stretch them.

“Mmmh… already?” He scratched the back of his head and yawned. “Auntie.” He called her through the small window. “We’re going at the river, okay?”

“Do you have a watch?”

“Yes, we’ll be back for lunch.”

“Put on the repellent spray and the sunscreen.”

“Yes, yes…”

“And be careful out there!”

She was still saying aloud other advice as they jumped down from the pickup and walked right inside the field.

“We should use the repellent and the sunscreen now, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko commented. “Or else we’ll be stung.”

“I don’t think there’s need to–” Kuroko had already it in his right hand. “–okay.”

Aomine wanted to bring him somewhere, he said. That somewhere wasn’t as close as he declared, but it was also true that Kuroko had not Aomine’s same resistance.

The sun was burning on their heads as they headed towards the bunch of trees which formed the small woods visible from the old abandoned house. Many insects chirped loud around them and once Kuroko shooed away from his left shoulder a not-so-small bug he didn’t recognize but hoped wouldn’t have gotten close anymore. He used the repellent on the clothes too to be safe and regretted not bringing a pair of sunglasses with him; the sun seemed to shine brighter, as if the sunflowers reflected its light. Kuroko looked at Aomine’s back and for an instant he half-closed his eyes: Aomine shone like a ray of sunshine.

“What’s in there, Aomine-kun?”

“A cool place, trust me.”

Kuroko hoped it was really cool – and not in the meaning of fantastic. He missed the shadows near the house and the trees in front of them didn’t seem to get any closer. But he resisted, and they reached them. The fresh atmosphere surrounded them, welcomed in that shelter from the summer sun; Kuroko realized they had to be back for lunch and didn’t fully enjoy the pleasant sensation.

“Aomine-kun?”

“Here. Follow me.”

They walked through the trees, until a small clearing. Kuroko bumped into Aomine’s back. He believed he would have entered it but stopped right at the edges.

“It’s here.” Aomine put a hand on Kuroko’s head and made him kneel, following him right after. “Just let’s wait a bit and don’t make too much noise.”

Kuroko poked his right hand inside his ribs, receiving a moan of pain. “Next time just tell me and don’t push me on the ground.”

“Goddammit Tetsu!”

“You’re being noisy.”

Aomine growled but didn’t say anything else. Kuroko looked at clearing: trees, leaves, rays of sun and roots piercing out from the ground. If there was something Aomine wanted to show him, he wasn’t seeing it.

“There. On that tree.” Aomine pointed at a tree at their right. “There’s a stag beetle on the trunk, right under the first branches.”

Kuroko squeezed his eyes, unsure where to look. Then he spotted it, a small black spot moving on the bark.

“Oh. I saw it.”

“And there’s a cicada right next to you.” This time, Kuroko spotted the bug immediately on a blade of grass gently wobbling few centimeters from his elbow. “This place crawls with bugs. I’d like to spot a rhinoceros beetle today, it’s been a while…” Aomine huffed, he looked seriously concerned about his aim.

“You know a lot of things about bugs. You once lectured Kise when he slapped away the cricket that jumped on his shoulder.”

“That was after that match in Kyoto, right?”

“Yup.”

“Damn Kise. He could have been more careful, I didn’t find the cricket anymore.”

“I’m sure it could take care of itself.” Kuroko took the rucksack off his shoulders and sank a hand inside. He took out a small camera. “Why don’t we take some pictures?”

“Hey Tetsu, you had a camera and use it only today?”

“Actually, I took plenty of photographs.” Aomine crouched next to him as Kuroko turned it on. “Look.”

The last photograph was a view of the old road climbing in the old part of the town dressed in lights for the festival. Then some panorama of the sunset over the sea and many photographs at the museum.

“When did you take these?”

“I was with you the whole time, Aomine-kun.”

Aomine kept looking at the photos while rustling inside his memory but couldn’t find a single time he noticed Kuroko taking a photograph.

“Here you were in the frame.”

It was a shoot of the basketball field the blue sky was turning pink and the sun was disappearing behind the horizon. Aomine was holding the basketball the children they met used to play and was looking at the basket in contemplation.

“That’s embarrassing, you know?”

“You were in the way.”

“Hey!” Aomine pouted. “Come on, let’s take some photographs. I’ll look for the bugs.”

“Don’t make such a fuss or you’ll make them escape.”

Aomine huffed. “Tetsu, I could find any type of bug. I am–”

Kuroko didn’t know what Aomine was, as his last words raised into a terrified shriek. He threw himself behind Kuroko, who wasn’t fast enough to avoid his hands clinging on his shoulders; the fingers gripped on the bones and it was almost painful. Kuroko kept looking around to understand what made Aomine react in that way. The only things he saw was a solitary bee (he wondered if there was a hive nearby) dancing heavily around them. When it checked they weren’t flowers, it flew away.

“So it was the bee…”

Aomine coughed. “That just surprised me, that’s all.” Kuroko looked like he was silently judging him. “…Tetsu, don’t tell Kagami and Kise. Nor Akashi, Midorima and Murasakibara. And of course, Satsuki.” His eyes wandered everywhere and avoided a direct eye-contact. “But I was just surprised and not scared!”

“I won’t tell.”

“Tetsu, I mean it.”

“I mean it too, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko shrugged. “Let’s go find some bugs which aren’t bees.”

They took more than fifty photographs, then Kuroko lost the count. Rolling on the grass, climbing on the trees, patiently waiting among the bushes were few of the strategies they used to get closer to their _models_. So, despite being under a refreshing shadow, both were soaked in sweat when Kuroko glanced at the watch and announced to  Aomine they were one hour late for lunch.

“Oh. Let’s go back then.”

It wasn’t difficult realizing Aomine would have rather stayed there chasing insects until the darkness turned too thick to see anything than going back to eat something that wasn’t one of their snacks.

The two o’ clock sun hit on them like the lecture of a severe mother and the glance Madoka gave them wasn’t that different.

“Here you are!” She had both hands on her hips and wrinkled her nose. As they were close enough, she put her right index on Aomine’s chest. “Aomine Daiki, didn’t I tell you to come back for lunch?”

Hinata was smiling. “There, there. You got lost in painting and didn’t realize it was this late. I guess it’s no one’s fault, huh?”

Madoka huffed. “Yes, yes.” Then she hugged Aomine, pressing his face against her shoulder. “I was so worried.”

“Auntie, you know I go there all the time. And there was Tetsu with me this time.”

The matter was settled as soon as they sat under the closest tree. Madoka brought there the easel and the case with her instruments; Kuroko, sitting on one of the roots, was eating his slice of quiche while looking at the bright colors reproducing on the canvas that corner of paradise.

“You always draw the same thing when we come here.” Aomine pointed out. “You could change.”

“That’s quite the habit. I like to see how each year it changes.”

Madoka and Hinata didn’t notice it, but Kuroko clearly saw Aomine glancing away and pretending to choose something else to eat from the bag. His ears turned red and he didn’t watch directly at his aunt until they ate the dessert – an apple pie so good that Kuroko ate two slices which weighed on his little stomach more than he thought. While Madoka was back at his painting, with Hinata sitting next to her, Kuroko remained sat against the tree and Aomine sat next to him.

The weather was warm and comfortable, the wind rustled among the leaves creating a small concert with the crickets. Every element of that landscape was cradling him in a sweet slumber. Kuroko felt his eyelids heavy to the point he kept them closed – only for five minutes, he though.

“Tetsu.”

Aomine’s voice awakened him.

“What?”

“Usually I came here only with auntie. The two of us, it was our special place.”

Hinata was talking to Madoka, who nodded to her while mixing the colors on the canvas. From behind, Madoka reminded Kuroko of a photograph he saw, of a woman dressed in light colors and with a straw hat covering her long hair waving in the wind. Even if that day there wasn’t a single breath of wind and the warmth was clenching on them like an unwanted suffocating hug.

“Are you mad we’re here?” Kuroko finally said while looking at the blue sky appearing through the leaves then he bended his head and the yellow field -too bright- filled his eyes. He closed them.

“What? No… I’m glad actually. Because we’re here together and, you know, maybe she didn’t come alone when I wasn’t year. I’m relieved…” Aomine scratched his head. “And... it was nice looking for bugs together and not alone. Even if I don’t mind being alone.” He added looking up at the branches. He kept fidgeting, touching his hair and changing position (knees against the chest, then crossed legs). “It was… fun, Tetsu.”

Aomine looked at Kuroko only to find out he closed his eyes and gave up to sleep. The legs dangling on the root, the head leant against the trunk and the hands crossed on his stomach: he looked at peace.

“Ah… you are sleeping.” Aomine leant down on the root he was sitting on and put both hands behind his head. “Then I’ll tell you later.”

He fell asleep too. But when he woke up, he didn’t repeat to Kuroko what he said before.

“You slept all afternoon, Tetsu.”

“I know, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko paid for his ice cream; he sounded pissed off. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” Aomine thought it was because of the light, but he believed Kuroko slightly blushed.

That evening they ate at home and greeted Hinata who was going back in Tokyo. Then Aomine and Kuroko descended all the way down to the town and went to the little cozy square. After a long line to get an ice cream each, they sat on the railing between the beach and the road.

“Peach and vanilla. Are those good?”

Aomine had almost eaten half of his ice cream (chocolate and strawberry), while Kuroko barely started his.

“You want to try?”

Kuroko handed him his cone and Aomine licked the vanilla first, then moved to the peach and closed his lips to take a mouthful. The tastes mingled together, the sweet vanilla balanced the sharp flavor of the peach. But he made a grimace.

“I don’t like it.” He erased the aftertaste munching on the chocolate on his cone. “Do you want some?”

Kuroko shook his head. “I’m good.” He looked at the watch: it took them half an hour to get to the town and some more fifteen minutes to take the ice cream.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I was thinking that it would be bad disturbing your aunt and Hinata if we go back home early.”

“Disturbing?”

Kuroko deadpanned him. “We left them alone and they won’t see each other for a while.” He looked at Aomine until his puzzled look was destroyed by the lightning of realization which shook him off from his oblivious state. His face turned red till the ears.

“And you say I’m the pervert!”

“You look at the girls’ chests. I’m just stating the obvious.”

“Maybe it’s not that obvious…” Aomine sank his objection into the ice cream, because he wasn’t fully believing in what he had said. “They closed the arcade, but there’s still the cinema. There’s only one theatre though and they project one movie for few days.”

“Let’s go check what’s tonight’s movie then.”

It looked like a romantic movie masked with an action appearance (the male protagonist was looking tenderly at the girl into his arms), one of those that Satsuki sometimes brought when she went at Aomine’s house and forced him to watch together. Aomine believed Kuroko wasn’t interested in it, but when he walked away, he noticed that Tetsu wasn’t using his misdirection but remained behind in front of the poster outside the cinema.

“Tetsu?”

“I don’t know the story, but I like the director.” He said. “I think I’d watch it.”

“Ah… are you sure, Tetsu?”

“You want to do something else, Aomine-kun?”

Aomine rustled into the mental archive of things he used to do when he was there. But they hadn’t a towel with them for an evening swim and the basketball court was crawling with children. Kuroko was genuinely waiting for an alternative.

“I guess we can give it a try.”

The seats weren’t big, nor the distance among the rows allowed Aomine to have some space to move his legs. It was quite cramped for him, while Kuroko, because of his dimensions, seemed at ease.

“Once I watched a horror movie with my aunt here.”

“What horror movie?”

“I don’t remember…” Aomine wrinkled his nose feeling the bubbles of the coke reaching his nostrils. “…but auntie slept with me that night.”

“Were you afraid?”

“No! She was the one scared!”

Kuroko chuckled, and the lights got dimmer until they went off. The movie began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aomine, you naive boy.


	5. Drops of water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read it again in a hurry, don't mind to point out any mistakes.

The market wasn’t near the seaside, but the salty smell soaked the feeble wind and weighed on them as the grey clouds gathering over their heads. It wasn’t a fresh day, it was hot; the rain was lurking in the moving clouds.

Kuroko looked up, then back on the long road adorned with countless stalls. Each was covered with rain slickers, one next to the other on both sides of the street, leaving only a tiny slice of road to walk on. Kuroko was fascinated by the colorful mingle of clothes, bags and objects.

“Hey, Tetsu!”

Aomine was in front of him and he looked around without catching sight of him. Again. Kuroko got closer from behind and poked -not so gently- his right hip.

“I was here all the time, Aomine-kun.”

“Hey!” Aomine pouted. “I doubt it. Come, the food is down there.”

“But I want to look here?”

“Eh? Why?”

“I want to buy souvenirs.”

“For your family?”

“For the team too. And maybe something for Akashi and the others.” Kuroko glanced at him. “Aren’t you buying anything for Momoi-san?”

“No. Why should I?”

“Because she would appreciate the thought.”

“I brought her already something from here, some years ago.” Aomine scratched the back of his head. “Why Akashi?”

“I think the others would be happy with a present.” Kuroko looked around. “If there’s a special umaibo’s flavor here, it’d be perfect for Murasakibara-kun.”

“You really are thoughtful, huh, Tetsu?” Aomine glanced at him, wondering why Kuroko was rustling inside his bag. He took out a small notebook and opened it where there was a bookmark in the shape of a black dog. Aomine saw a list of names and recognized the kanji of his ex-teammates plus Momoi. Next to each name, there were few objects. “Tetsu… you wrote a list of possible souvenirs for them…?”

Kuroko nodded. “Sure. This helps me to get an idea. Of course, it’s not compulsory. If I find something nice which isn’t on the list, I’ll buy it.”

“Sometimes I forget your observation skills are on pair of Satsuki’s…”

“Sure. But I didn’t need my skills yesterday to notice that you cried during the movie.”

“What?! That’s not true!”

“You used your t-shirt to dry the tears twice when you thought I wasn’t watching.”

Aomine couldn’t deny that. “Do you have another pair of eyes here?” He surprised Kuroko, putting both hands on the back of his head to move the locks of hair away.

“I’ve just a good peripherical view. Let it go, Aomine-kun. It’s annoying.” Aomine kept checking among his hair. His fingers pressed against the skin, moving the hair and making them brush on his neck. A ticklish sensation that Kuroko didn’t dislike as much as he believed, but when he felt Aomine’s thumb directly on the neck, he wriggled away. “It’s not fun.”

“It depends on the point of view.” He chuckled. “You really want to buy souvenirs?” Kuroko didn’t nod; however, his eyes were serious and that was enough as reply. “Okay, let’s go. But at least put the list away, it makes me anxious.”

At those words, Kuroko straightened the paper and held it in front of him.

“You’re a little shit, you know Tetsu?”

“Yes, I know.”

Kuroko walked in front of Aomine, who lost sight of him more than once only to find him in front of random stalls checking the merchandise. Sometimes Kuroko turned to him, asking for an advice, but Aomine only stared at what he was showing him and shrugged.

_ “I guess it could go.” “Who knows?” “He’ll accept anything.” “I’m hungry.” _

He had a fixed set of replies.

“Are we done?”

“Almost. Kagami-kun is left.”

“You can skip him. He only thinks about food.” Aomine was looking distractedly at a dog sitting near the legs of a woman, so he didn’t notice immediately Kuroko’s blank stare. “Why Kagami?”

“Because he’s my friend. I bought something to eat together with the whole team too.”

“He’s already in the team, so the present is ready, isn’t it?”

“I want to buy him something.”

“I don’t get why, he’ll have the same thing as your teammates.”

“Why does it bother you that much?” Kuroko put down the bracelet he was checking and tilted his head towards Aomine. “Do you want a souvenir too?”

“I’m spending the holidays with you! I don’t want a souvenir!” Aomine put both hands in his trousers. “Whatever, I’m going to sit on that bench.”

Ten minutes later, Kuroko went to the bench, satisfied for all the souvenirs he managed to find. The bag dangled into his hand, rubbing against his right leg. But on the bench, there wasn’t Aomine: a boy and a girl were sharing a huge ice cream cone. Kuroko glanced around, looking at the stalls selling food.

“Hey, Tetsu.”

Something poked him on the back of the head. As he turned around, his view was suffocated by something brownish and his senses inebriated by the strong scent of fish. Aomine was tending to him a roasted squid impaled on a long wooden skewer.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“It’s not even lunch time.”

Aomine frowned. “Tetsu, are you serious?”

“Yes.” Kuroko glanced at his watch. “See?” Then he noticed something odd: it was pointing the same hour he read when two souvenirs still missed, and he saw the needle of the seconds was still. “Ah… it’s dead.”

“Stupid. Isn’t your stomach looking for food?”

“No. I’m an energy-saving human, not like you and Kagami-kun.”

“What does that mean? And why do you have to compare me to Kagami?” Aomine shoved the squid into his hand. “Come on, let’s go eat near the beach.”

Despite the weather turned gloomy, many brave people were spending the day on the beach. The bravest of them, were bathing in the sea.

Aomine and Kuroko sat on a bench few steps from the sand. Kuroko was sincere when he said he wasn’t feeling the sensation of hunger. However, with the scent of the squid right under his nose, his stomach awakened, and his senses replied to the stimulus: he was about to drool and gulped down twice, resisting the temptation of sinking his teeth into the brownish fish. As they sat down, Kuroko bit on the squid.

“Delicious.” He commented while munching. “Where was the stall?”

“One man who sold fresh fish was roasting them for him and his wife. I thought they were selling them, since they had so many. They did me a special price.” Aomine looked proud. “It doesn’t taste this good when my mother roasts squids at home.”

“I guess it’s the sea.”

“All squids come from the sea.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Kuroko wondered if he had to keep on with that conversation, but the idea escaped his mind as he laid his eyes again on the sea. The calm surface was calling the people to sink into the water; however, the menacing clouds above their heads seemed like a warning.

“Why don’t we go to the old town later?”

“The old town? Where they held the festival?”

Aomine nodded. “During the festival it seems like people actually live there because of the lights, but it’s just a neighborhood of old houses.”

“And you’re interested in old houses?”

“No. But it seems a good idea exploring it a bit. Today it’s not that hot.”

Kuroko looked at the half squid remained into his hands. Aomine was playing with the wooden stick, keeping it into his mouth and making it bounce with the index; he had already finished to eat, as fast as Kagami. But Kuroko didn’t say it aloud.

After a long and silent contemplation of the gray sea, Kuroko agreed. “It seems a good idea.”

It wasn’t hot, but the streets were all climbing. Without noticing, Aomine put between himself and Kuroko a huge distance, and he didn’t stop walking until he noticed something and turned around to call him. At first, he thought Kuroko used misdirection on him, but then he saw him limping in the distance.

Kuroko wasn’t able to catch up with Aomine’s march of speed mostly because of his poor stamina, but also because he looked around with interest. The old wooden houses weren’t all abandoned as Aomine said; some had some clothes hanging out or a bike parked in front of the doors. However, many of them had no inhabitants and the few people who preferred living there instead of moving to the center, didn’t make any noise loud enough to be heard from the street. The only sounds were their feet dragging on the road.

“Tetsu, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Kuroko took a deep breath. “Where are we going?”

Aomine shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What does it mean?”

“That I don’t know.” At Kuroko’s puzzled look, he added “There’s an old temple at the end of the road, where the forest begins. It’s been a while since the last I went there.” Aomine waited for Kuroko to reach him and slowed his pace. “But auntie was busy.”

“Were you scared of going alone?”

“What?! No!”

The reply was too quick, and Aomine turned his eyes away. It was easy for Kuroko to uncover the truth when it came to Aomine.

“Well, it seems like an abandoned neighborhood.” Behind them, the road was deserted; the noises of the cars coming from the town disappeared too. “It’s normal being afraid.”

“I’m not afraid!” Aomine looked back, over his shoulder, then glanced at Kuroko. “Are you?”

“I’m not.”

Kuroko was wearing his usual deadpan expression, making impossible to read behind it and say if that was a lie or not. Aomine didn’t know if he wanted Kuroko to be even frightened just a bit or rather not.

A loud thunder echoed inside his ears and destroyed his reasoning. The roar caught them unprepared, so close that both felt it vibrating inside their heads.

“Maybe we should go back.”

While talking, Kuroko felt a drop of water falling on his nose. Around them, dark spots appeared on the street where the rain was falling; huge circles sprouted one after the other, covering the light gray with a deeper color.

Kuroko gripped the hand around the plastic bag with the souvenirs and run behind Aomine. He dashed towards one house on the left, probably abandoned as the door of the small fence lied unhinged on the tall grass. They climbed the stairs to the front door and found shelter under the small porch. Both were soaked.

“Dammit.” Aomine looked at his t-shirt, soaked against his skin. “It’s a downpour.”

“But it won’t last long.”

“You said it. We’ll stay here for the whole afternoon.”

“We’re drenched, so I don’t mind walking under the rain.”

As if the sky heard him, a lighting exploded into the sky followed by the angered grumble of a thunder. The light was so intense, for an instant Kuroko closed his eyes. As he opened them again, he noticed Aomine was looking at him.

“You want to go back now?”

Kuroko sat down, the knees against the chest and the back against the wall. “I guess we can wait for the rain to stop.”

Aomine sat next to him and crossed his legs. “Bad luck. It could have waited at least one day.”

“Ah, we’re leaving the day after tomorrow.”

The days flew away. Kuroko thought about what he did there and had the sensation he still had so many things to do and so little time. Even if he enjoyed every bit of his days filled with many events and experiences, he thought he could have done more. Maybe that was just the melancholy of the end of the holidays. Or the rain.

“Yes. It’s almost finished.” Aomine raised both arms towards the sky, stretching them. “I don’t want to go back home.”

“I’d stay here for some more days too.”

“How about the souvenirs?”

“I didn’t say forever.”

Aomine glanced at the bag. “What did you buy?”

Kuroko rustled inside it and took out a red bracelet tied on a seashell. “Bracelets with shells.”

“…and you took all that time for the same souvenir for everyone?”

“I bought some sweets to share with my team.” Kuroko pointed out. “I thought it was better like this. Even if they don’t wear it, they can put it somewhere.”

“Tetsu, you took like an hour!”

“You are exaggeration.” Kuroko slightly tilted his head. “And I had to choose the ones I liked.” He said it as if it was natural and couldn’t understand Aomine’s reaction. He put the bracelet back and Aomine sighed.

“I give up. You’re impossible.”

“You speak like Kagami.” Kuroko stopped for a second. “And Hyuuga senpai.”

Aomine didn’t say anything else, yet his expression turned a bit somber. “…and Murasakibara?”

“What about Murasakibara-kun?”

“You talked about some food for him.”

“The risk I’ll get something he doesn’t like is high. And all the sweets here, he can find them elsewhere.”

“I see…”

For a long time, they didn’t speak. Sitting there in silence, under the porch of an abandoned house, they looked at the falling rain covering the landscape like a halftone screen on a drawing. Loud and far thunders accompanied the rhythmic beat of the rain. When a thunder stroke again, Aomine believed Kuroko’s shiver was due to the surprise. Yet, he distinguished the goose pimples on his left arm.

“Aomine-kun?”

Aomine sat closer to him, their legs and shoulder gently collided, and put an arm around his shoulders.

“It’s getting cold.” He snorted with a gruff voice. “I don’t want you to catch a cold here. You have bad white corpuscles.”

Kuroko pouted at him. Aomine frowned. “You know I’m right, Tetsu!”

“That’s rude of you remarking that.”

“But that’s the truth.”

They were so close that their knees touched. Kuroko’s left shoulder was near Aomine’s chest and in a single impulsive movement, their foreheads brushed one against the other. Aomine felt Kuroko’s head moving, but not backing away. He closed his eyes and kissed him on the lips.

It was their first kiss. It lasted the time it took the thunder to reach the lightning. Only few seconds.

Kuroko’s lips were unexpectedly coarse. That was Aomine first thought. Then he realized he kissed Kuroko and that his lips were warm, his whole body was warm. As warm as Aomine’s face. He flushed right after Kuroko lowered his eyes. Yet, before he could make a single move, Kuroko’s head slowly glided against his chest and remained there.

“…Tetsu… my t-shirt is still wet…”

“I don’t mind, Aomine-kun.” His voice was muffled.

Aomine was sure that, before Kuroko could hide his face, he caught a glimpse of blush on his cheeks.

The rain didn’t stop.

They run under the rain until Kuroko run out of breath. Then, they walked. When Madoka opened the door, she almost dragged them inside.

“What were you thinking? Not taking an umbrella with you!”

She went and grabbed two towels. Kuroko wasn’t fast enough to escape at the hand pressing over his head, while Aomine avoided the contact once, but couldn’t avoid it at the second attempt. Madoka rubbed their hair and left the towels hanging from their heads.

“Go and have a shower. Then you’ll eat something warm!”

It was an order. Her kindness came in the shape of harsh orders and rushed movements. She walked towards the kitchen, then came back to ruffle a bit more Aomine’s hair, then she did Kuroko’s and went back just to shift at the last moment and march to the living room.

Aomine and Kuroko looked at each other. That was the first time since their kiss, and the guilt took the place of the embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, auntie. We were just…” Aomine shrugged, the words got lost at some point inside his throat.

Madoka came back from the living room with a pile of ironed clothes. Her eyebrows weren’t as creased as before, her face sweetened a bit. However, she still had a severe aura around her and nor Aomine nor Kuroko said a word.

“I know you were okay. But you two made me worry a lot! Not coming back as it started raining...” She rolled her eyes. “Shower, now!”

Kuroko followed Aomine upstairs. He was looking at his own feet, so he didn’t notice Aomine stopped and bumped into his back.

“Aomine-kun?”

“Maybe it’s better you take the shower first. You may take a cold.”

“Yes.” Silence. “Thank you.”

They kept their heads low and didn’t look at each other.

Kuroko entered the warm bathroom and suddenly realized how much the cold entered slithered inside him to the bones. The steam floated from the surface of the water in the bathtub right after the small space to wash before entering. Madoka prepared the bath for them, even if she didn’t know when they would have returned. The thought increased the tingle coming from the guilt poking his chest.

He had just taken off his t-shirt when he heard a growing rustle of feet coming from outside. The door slid with so much violence that Kuroko took a step behind. Madoka threw Aomine inside the bathroom.

“Do you want to catch a cold? Staying like that in the corridor and wetting the floor I’ve just cleaned!”

She slammed the door closed, leaving behind her a confused Kuroko and a disheveled Aomine. They glimpsed at each other for an instant. Kuroko pressed the t-shirt against his chest, covering himself.

“That’s a side of her I haven’t witnessed yet.”

“She’s always like this.” Aomine snorted. “Acting so toughly when she’s just worried.” He grabbed the hems of his t-shirt, but hesitated. His eyes darted towards Kuroko’s back. He was unbuttoning his shorts, but Aomine looked away before he took them off.

It was difficult moving without the sight falling on one another. Aomine kept massaging his neck, looking around as if his muscles were stiff – they were, but not to the point he needed to stretch them. Kuroko just looked in front of him, acting with a composed calm that seemed to hint everything was fine by his side. However, the soap fell from his hands once, as he turned around to take the sponge he brushed the back of the hand against Aomine’s elbow and muttered a low “Sorry.” without even looking. Aomine didn’t notice, as he wasn’t looking either. Sat on the opposite sides, they rubbed over their skins the warmth of the soap mixed with water.

When Aomine started to wash the foam away, he spoke. “Hey, Tetsu…” He turned around. “What the hell?!”

On the small seat, where Kuroko should be, there was a huge mass of white foam. Kuroko’s voice came from in there and, as he moved a bit, some foam fell from him, uncovering his head and arms.

“Something’s wrong?”

“N-no. But I’m entering the tub.”

“I need to wash the foam away.”

“Good idea. There’s more foam than you on that seat.”

Aomine washed away every trace of soap from his body and entered into the hot water. First one leg, and his body trembled. Then the other and it shook with more vigor. The warmth climbed into his body up to the head, and the steam floated in front of his face. Aomine sat down, sank into the transparent water until he felt the feeble tickle of the surface against the chin. He closed his eyes.

His mind floated away as the steam in the air. He suddenly thought about basketball, the last match he had before summer holidays, then the first match he lost after years of victories, his victories at Teikou, Kuroko, his first meeting with him, his lips.

Aomine stood up like someone stabbed him in the rear with a pick. Awakened from the sweet comfortable slumber he fell into, Aomine’s senses were all on alert and his heart was beating fast.

“Aomine-kun. What’s wrong?”

Kuroko entered the bathtub and he didn’t realize it. He was too busy basking into the coziness of the water and the memories, until his emotions betrayed him.

Aomine was standing naked in the opposite side of the tub where Kuroko was quietly sitting. And looking directly at him. He sat down in a hurry.

“Nothing. I’ve just remembered something. Nothing important.”

His face was hot, and he pretended it was only for the warmth of the water. Aomine fixed his eyes on the moving surface: it was so transparent he could see the figure of his body rippled by the water. He moved his hands and felt something wet hitting his cheek.

“Huh?” Aomine peeked at his side, but Kuroko seemed interested in the ceiling.

As he turned around, another spray of water reached his temple.

“Hey!” This time, Aomine was fast enough to catch a slight movement of the water in front of Kuroko. “You’ve just hidden your hands under the water, I saw you, Tetsu!”

“No. You’re imagining things.”

Aomine saw Kuroko’s hands floating near the surface, the hands closed one on the other in a fist. As he clamped the fingers more, the surface rippled and a spray of water leaped directly on Aomine’s chin.

“What?” He was bothered only for an instant. Aomine craned his neck to look better. “How do you–hey!” The second spray of water hit him near the eyes. “Tetsu!” He opened the palm of his hand and washed away all the water he could move against Kuroko in a single movement: a small wave splashed against Kuroko’s face and more water fell outside from the tub.

Kuroko shook his head and moved some locks of hair away from his eyes. “You’re always impulsive, Aomine-kun.”

“Says the one who started it! I can’t do that thing!” Aomine clamped the hands together near the water, but only managed to splash some drops on himself.

“No, it’s like this.”

To avoid Kuroko’s hit of water, Aomine submerged under the surface. However, as he emerged again, Kuroko attacked him. Aomine rubbed his eyes and looked at his deadpanned face.

But it wasn’t the usual plain expression. His lips were slightly curved and were trembling. Kuroko emitted a small laugh, hiding it behind his hand, but couldn’t stop the shaking of his shoulders.

“What’s wrong now?”

Aomine wanted to sound angry, but he couldn’t. Kuroko was laughing, without erupting in loud cackles. Aomine’s feeble attempt of maintaining a scowl towards him disappeared in front of those gentle chuckles and, before he could notice, he was smiling.

“Tetsu, you’re an idiot.”

And he laughed too.

Madoka wasn’t as angry as before. By the time they finished dining, her frown disappeared, and she became as cheerful as usual.

“By the way.” She said casually at Aomine while they were clearing the table. “You two, have you argued?”

“What? No.” Aomine looked shocked. “Why you think so?”

“Well, you haven’t been talking to each other for the whole evening.” Madoka looked at his nephew, then glanced at Kuroko, who insisted on doing the dishes and was already cleaning them. “Is everything okay?”

Aomine looked at the empty bowl of salad into his hands. He didn’t know if everything was alright. He kissed Kuroko and Kuroko didn’t refuse him. Yet, while going back home none of them said a word and in the bathroom they didn’t talk much. They almost didn’t talk at all, even if in the end they were having fun, right before Madoka called them for dinner.

“Everything’s fine.” He said in the end.

“Oh, good then.”

All of a sudden , inside the bowl there were also the plates and some pieces of cutlery. The weight on his arms intensified, but Aomine wasn’t ready.

“Hey!”

“I have a job to finish. If you want me, I’m in my room.”

“A-auntie, wait!” However, she disappeared in few steps. “Ah, damn it…”

Aomine brought the dishes to Kuroko. He seemed so concentrated on his task, that Aomine was startled as Kuroko tended a hand to take one of the forks and said “Thank you.”

“…auntie said she’s working tonight, so…” Aomine shrugged.

“It’s still raining outside.” Kuroko wasn’t looking at him, but at the dishes. “We could watch a movie.”

“Yes, we could.” Silence, only running water. “Is there anything you’d like to watch.”

“Nothing in particular.”

“So… I’ll chose something.”

“Okay then.”

It was a bizarre evening. They were sitting on the sofa in the darkness, the only light coming from the tv screen. Aomine didn’t have an idea on what he wanted to watch, so he chose an action movie.

At the beginning, he glanced at Kuroko few times to realize if he was enjoying it or not.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s just begun, Aomine-kun.”

Then, Aomine found himself looking more at Kuroko than at the television. He saw when Kuroko tilted his head -maybe he didn’t understand a scene- and when he startled at the sudden explosion; maybe he was paying attention after all, while Aomine lost pieces behind while concentrating on him.

Kuroko had his hands on the lap. Somewhere during the movie, he shifted them at his sides. The right one was close enough for Aomine to casually stretch his arm and brush against his fingers. In the right moment the thought struck his mind, Aomine turned his head on the other side and felt his face burning.

They stayed silent during the whole movie.

“I’m tired.”

The first words Aomine said after the end of the movie settled his desire of going to bed. Just standing up and going upstairs without saying anything felt wrong.

“I think I’ll go to bed too.”

They turned the lights of the living room off and everything fell into a delicate darkness touched by the outside lights. A sudden touch on the arm scared Aomine.

“Woah! Tetsu?”

“Sorry, I tripped.”

His fingers were slightly gripping around his fist. Aomine thought that if he were about to fall, he would have felt a heavier weight on him and not the slight brush of his hand.

“Hey, Tetsu.” He walked towards the stairs, Kuroko didn’t let go.

“Yes?”

“You would… kiss me again?”

It was easier talking when there was barely enough light to see each other’s figures in the night. Aomine could pretend Kuroko wasn’t looking at him, even if he felt his eyes on the back of his head. As Kuroko’s hand glided down and grabbed his, Aomine’s heart skipped a beat.

“I would.”

Kuroko’s voice trembled. Aomine tightened the grip of his fingers.

“Then… does this mean we’re like… you know… boyfriends now?”

“…I think so.”

Aomine massaged his neck.

“…nice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me more than a month to update, but we're almost at the end. And this is a good turning point I guess.


	6. ANNOUNCEMENT

This is not an update. I'm going to erase seven days of summer because I ended up developing some things in a different direction than planned. Of course, since I only have to edit some parts and complete the ending, it won't take much time (I hope).

This message will stay up for 24 hours, then I'll erase the fan fiction and start posting it again when it'll be all completed. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks to you all for keep reading my stories.

**Author's Note:**

> Updates every 10 days, more or less.


End file.
